My parents gave me a very generous present of an iPod Touch for Christmas 2009. It came in very handy while traveling and at the gym, but then I got an iPhone (business expense!) and stopped using the iPod. It felt tacky to sell, so I waited. Finally, with all the talk about selling “old” iPhones right now, I figured it was time to sell (and use the money to help pay for a plane ticket for a grandparental visit, of course). I didn’t want to mess with Craigslist or eBay, as right now I just want it done quick and easy. There were a lot more options out there than I thought!
Details and condition: Apple iPod Touch (3rd gen, 64 GB). I don’t believe she paid the original retail price of $399, but it was at least in the mid $300s. Fully functional with original box, charging cable, and headphones. The screen is still smooth as glass and unscratched, but the metallic backside has many small scratches.
Real World / In-Person
Here are the options I found if you prefer to walk into a physical store and sell your electronics.
| Vendor | Offer Price | Details |
| Best Buy | $87.54 | Store-credit only |
| Radio Shack | $75 | Store-credit only |
| Gamestop | $54.40 | Cash value quoted. Get 25% more as store credit ($68) |
Online / Mailing it in
With these websites, you get a quote and then mail in your gadget using a prepaid shipping label. Once they inspect and verify, they will send you payment via gift certificate, check, or PayPal. There is the added risk of loss during transit, or a rejection if they disagree on condition, but most of them will ship it back for free.
| Vendor | Offer Price | Details |
| Amazon Trade-in | $108.75 | Amazon.com credit only |
| eBay Instant Sale | $81 | Paypal only |
| NextWorth | $80 | Paypal, Target gift card, or check |
| Gazelle |
$69 | Cash quoted via Paypal or check. Get 5% extra with Amazon gift certificate |
| BuyMyTronics | $63 | Check or PayPal |
The wide range of prices shows that you should definitely compare prices when selling this way. That was surprising, considering Apple products are nearly commodities now. I shop at Amazon.com regularly and value Amazon.com credit at least at 95 cents on the dollar, so I went with them. The Amazon brand backing helped as well. I probably could have gotten more if I listed on eBay (remember to account for eBay and Paypal fees), but I went ahead and printed out the prepaid UPS label and dropped it off at the nearest UPS store. I’ll update this post if I have any issues with the sellback. Please share your own experiences in the comments.
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By far one of the best ways to get the most for your stuff is craigslist, for example in phoenix, the lowest someone is offering this iPod touch is $120 and there is a good chance they are going to get close to that.
Another really good way to see how much something is worth is to check ebay completed listings and see how much people are paying for something like this.
However I am really fed up with ebay’s fees, they charge you to sell then charge you to receive money. Your looking at them taking at least a 10% cut or more.
Ebay even added a price trend chart!
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Apple-iPod-touch-3rd-Generation-64-GB-/77767721?_refkw=iPod+Touch+3rd+gen%2C+64+GB&_pcatid=39&_odkw=iPod+Touch+rd+gen%2C+64+GB&_pcategid=73839&_osacat=0&_dmpt=Other_MP3_Players
Selling used on Amazon is almost always a MUCH better deal than Amazon trade-in, even after paying commission. It’s very little effort – much easier than eBay. I suggest you consider it in future.
@Jacob – Cool link. Looks like right now the Buy It Now and Auction closing prices for a used one is hovering about $140-$150 minus all the fees of say 10% for Final Value, Insertion, and PayPal acceptance leaves you at around $130.
@Jennifer – That’s a good tip too. The lowest price is $140. With Amazon referral fee of 8% for consumer electronics + 99 cent fixed + closing fees, that’s about $127. I wonder how Amazon handles returns.
I agree with the hassle-free appeal. There are similar options with selling textbooks, from a Half.com buyback, Amazon, and multiple small sites that roll the same way, but send you a check.
I did this for one of my law textbooks after the bookstore tried to gouge me and I wasn’t comfortable sitting on an older one over the summer. My experience was netting ~85% of the Half price, plus not getting dinged with the fee they charge + the extra in shipping that inevitably pops up.
I think you could make a very popular post if you tried this with the book/textbook angle.
I wondered how come you don’t disclose/discuss it at your blog before sending out your iPod Touch.
Wanny:
1. You are looking too much into it.
2. His experience triggered this article.
I was surprised to get $175+shipping for my broken iphone with water damage sold via ebay 6 months ago. Apple goods holds their value and sell-able even they are broken like elephant. Elephant is worth while living or dead.
As you said ebay and paypal gets bit expensive and hassle. I never tried amazon trade-in or used, may be will give it a try if you post your experience.
Jonathan, I may buy it if you are interested.
@MT – That’s a good idea, but textbooks seem like less of a commodity and based more on local demand that a specific site may have. I should look up with most popular textbooks in areas like Economics, Biology, Math, etc.
@Wanny – xmasy is right, the truth isn’t very exciting. I did this price comparison in a rough manner earlier in the week, but I didn’t get time to write up the post due to external circumstances including a crying baby. However, my Amazon offer expired 9/20 and I was afraid the offer would go down, so I just mailed it out. I updated the pricing for this post and I’m pretty sure most of the quotes were about the same.
In the end, I probably left about $20 on the table as opposed to Amazon sell-yourself given that I have zero feedback on a used item.
@Oleg – I’ll let you know if Amazon rejects it. I’d be mad if they do though, I’m pretty anal with my toys and I included the original headphones still in wrapper and the original box with manuals and everything.
Hope you tell us what your final decision is.
Hey, if they send it back I will buy it for sure. I have no Iphone and would love the Itouch… I will even pay for your shipping. Yes? keep me in mind
I’m surprised at how much of a difference some companies are from Amazon. I like Amazon and definitely think store credits are valuable from the company. I would definitely use over $100 of store credit.
dali … I have 3 ipods … I will sell one to you ..
I used them for work, have since upgraded to ipads
Light surface scratches, everything works flawlessly … only used it for one app ever, contact me if you want
Do you have specs? and how much? maybe your email too. ciao
Let us know how it worked out with Amazon! I’m about to send them my old iphone but have been hearing a few complaints- rejecting the item and even people receiving them back without all accessories.
Kevin?? what happened?
Dali,
I put my email address on here … the admin musta deleted it … k e v i n s a l v o @ gmail. com
Sorry my fault, it was sent to spam, usually leaving e-mail in comments is marked as spam. Better to obfuscate it anyway. 🙂